Dead    Or So We Thought
by Jazmyne Reede
Summary: 200 years after Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth has wandered with Jane and Charles, with Georgiana, and on her own.  Will she ever be the same?
1. Coming Home

After walking home from church and removing her cloak, Elizabeth strode into the kitchen

"Hello, Lizzy. Has confession ended yet?" Jane asked as she strolled in.

"No, there were two or three people behind me; if you hurry, you should make it. No, here, take my cloak, for it's quite cold in the church," Lizzy said, handing her sister her cloak as she rushed past to reach the door.

"Thank you, Lizzy. Don't worry, I shan't be gone long. And if Charles asks, be sure to tell him where I've gone," Jane instructed as she hurried out the door.

Chuckling to herself at the irony of a vampire hurrying to confession, Lizzy walked to the main hall. Looking up the stairwell, she saw her niece scampering down the stairs.

"Aunt Lizzy, Mrs. Garison says I have to go to bed, but I don't want to," Victoria said as she jumped into Lizzy's waiting arms.

"Well, little one, Mrs. Garison is right." Setting the child down, Lizzy continued. "But if you get ready and are in bed by the time I come upstairs, I'll tell you a story. How does that sound? Can you do that for me?"

"Alright!" Victoria said as she scrambled up the starts, grabbing Mrs. Garison's hand and dragging her to her room.

"Thank you, Mrs. Darcy, thank you!" Mrs. Garison said heartfully.

"Of course, Mrs. Garrison," Lizzy said with a smile. She knew how difficult Victoria could be when she didn't want to go to bed.

Still smiling, Lizzy made her way to the parlour. Upon reaching the parlour, she informed Charles that Jane had gone to confession and would return in roughly half an hour.

"Thank you, Lizzy. By the way, what did you promise Vicky if she got ready for bed?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, just a story if she were ready by the time I went upstairs," Lizzy said with a little laugh.

"Of course. Don't know why I didn't think of that myself. She always had loved a good story. Also, there came a letter for you while you were at confession. I put it on your desk," he said.

"Thank you. If you'll excuse me, Victoria should be ready by now and I believe I'm going to retire early myself, after I attend to the letter. Good night, Charles," Lizzy side with a little curtsy as she quit the room.

"Hello, Aunt Lizzy," came a quiet voice from the left side of the door.

"Goodness, Johnathon! I had no idea you were there," Lizzy exclaimed. "Come now, surely it's time you got ready for bed."

"Oh, alright, I suppose. Might I escort you to my sister's room?" he asked gallantly, holding out his arm. Faintly, they heard Charles laughing from behind the closed parlour door.

"Of course, Johnathon," Elizabeth said as she took his arm and allowed him to lead her up the stairs. "You are so much like your uncle, always creeping up silently and so proper. A perfect gentleman, exactly what we need nowadays."

"Thank you, Aunt Lizzy. If you don't mind me asking, what happened to Uncle Darcy? You rarely ever talk about him," Johnathon said.

"Your Uncle Darcy got ran over by a carriage, I'm afraid. It was so sudden. One moment the carriage was there, and the next it was right on top of him," Elizabeth said sadly. "If you'll excuse me, we've arrived at your sister's room," she continued, curtsying to her nephew after pulling her hand from his elbow.


	2. The Unexpected Letter

After a story, Victoria always fell asleep. Closing the door softly behind her and making her way to her room, Elizabeth thought about the letter. _Who could have sent it? I haven't heard from Radjedef since I left. Although,_ she remembered, _I wrote to Georgiana just last week. Perhaps it's her reply_ was her final thought before she caught sight of the writing on the envelope. Clutching her hand to her breast, she screamed. Who knew the pain one single word could bring! A few seconds later, the door to her room flew open.

"What is it, Elizabeth? What's wrong?" Charles asked as he rushed in.

Calming herself, Lizzy realized just how much she was overreacting. "Charles," she said, her voice shaking, "Tell me, does the handwriting on the envelope look familiar at all?"

Walking over to the desk, revealing that Georgiana had come up, he picked up the envelope and looked it over for a few moments. _ There's no way this is possible. Now I see why she screamed. The resemblance is uncanny. _"Just vaguely, but I can't place it," he lied. "Why do you ask?"

Taking a breath, Elizabeth turned to Georgiana. "Do you recognize the handwriting at all, Georgie?"

Walking over to the desk, Georgiana picked up the envelope, only to drop it in shock. "There's no way, there's no possible way this can be. It looks uncannily like my brothers handwriting, but he's been dead…we held him as he died, Lizzy! There's no way this is possible. I must be seeing things! Yes, that's it, that's the only logical explanation. I'm seeing this. It's not really Darcy's handwriting at all, just my imagination."

"What's going on in here?" cam a soft voice from the doorway. "Oh! Hello, Georgiana. How are you? Charles, what's wrong with Lizzy? Why does she look so frightened?" Jane asked as she walked into the room.

Cradling Lizzy to his chest, Charles explained about the letter.

Walking over to the desk, Jane picked up the envelope and giving the handwriting a cursatory glance, she moved to flip the envelope over.

"No!" Lizzy screamed, jumping up from the bed. Reaching to grab the letter from her sister's hand, Lizzy collapsed to the floor, gasping and crying.

Dropping to her knees beside her sister, Jane set the letter on Elizabeth's lap. Lifting her head from her hands, Lizzy stared at her sister with tearful, frightened eyes. Smiling sadly, Lizzy picked up the letter and slowly turned it over.

"Well," Lizzy said after a long moment, her voice shaking. "This seals the deal. Look, Georgiana, it's the Darcy crest."

"Come on, Lizzy, open it! What does it say?" Georgiana asked, almost frightful of what she would hear.

Opening the envelope with care not the crack the wax seal and scanning the contents, Lizzy grew more confused with each word she read. Slowly, she explained what the letter was about. "It says that he never really died. Someone came and saved him. 'Go to the fountain in the middle of the square. I can't tell you who will meet you there, but I promise you that you'll know him, but not by name, and that he's there for you. he will meet you at 10:30 A.M.' Well, we know he's a vampire or a ghoul, then, if we're meeting him at 10:30 and we'll know he's there for us."

"How do we know he's a vampire or a ghoul just because he's meeting us at 10:30?" Georgiana asked, confused.

"Because he says we'll know him when we see him and hardly any vampires and ghouls are out at that time," Lizzy explained. "Come now, if we have to be in the square by 10:30, we should get some sleep. Good night, everyone," Lizzy said as they followed her advice and walked out of her room and into their own.

Closing the door behind them, Elizabeth was glad they left her alone. _How is this possible? Georgiana and I held him as he died. We were there when they lowered the casket into the ground and when they shoveled the dirt back over the casket. I went and visited his grave everyday for three weeks and the dirt was never disturbed. It was a closed casket, now that I think about it. Maybe he wasn't even in the casket for the burial! That would explain why the ground was never disturbed. The casket would have been heavy enough that his missing weight never would have been noticed._

Elizabeth's thought were spinning around in her head so rapidly, she thought she'd never get to sleep, but slowly, she did indeed nod off.


	3. At the Fountain

The next morning, Charles, Jane, Lizzy, and Georgiana were walking towards the square, talking about how they thought they were going to know who was going to pick them up and where they were going. Lizzy was strangely quiet, but no one seemed to notice. Lizzy was reading the letter again, although she'd long since memorized it. Lizzy was more looking at the shape of the letters, comparing them to the letters he'd written her so long ago for any sign of trickery.

When they reached the square, Lizzy's head snapped up as she felt the power of a very strong master crawl over her skin. _He's even more powerful than Radjedef is. This must be who Darcy sent. _Following the power closer to its source, Lizzy saw a man and woman, who each appeared to be around the age of 25, near the fountain. When the group approached, the couple turned around.

"Mencheres?" Georgian asked when they turned. "Sire, what are you doing here?"

"Ah, Georgiana. What a pleasure to see you again." The man had a faint accent that Lizzy believed to be of Egyptian origin, but it was unlike any Egyptian she had ever heard. "Surely you remember my wife, Kira. I'm afraid I don't know your companions. Perhaps you would be so kind as to introduce them to me," the man continued.

"Of course I remember Kira. Forgive me for not greeting you earlier, Kira. I was just so overcome with surprise at seeing Mencheres. Please forgive my oversight," Georgiana said to the woman.

"I can understand why you would be surprise at seeing us here, considering why we sent you away last time. I suppose I can forgive you this ONE time," Kira said as she pulled Georgiana in for a quick hug.

_ The man, Mencheres, I believe Georgiana called him, is most definitely the source of the power. The woman, Kira, has only been changed for ten years, maybe a few more_ Lizzy thought as she watched the exchange.

"Mencheres, Kira, this is my brother- and sister-in-law, Charles and Jane Bingley," Georgiana said as the embrace ended and she turned back to her sire.

"A pleasure to meet you," Mencheres said in a voice smooth as glass as he raised Jane's hand to touch his lips to the back of. Shaking Charles' hand, he said "Bingley, eh? Darcy's told me about you."

"All good, I hope," Charles joked as they shook hands. He almost looked taken back at the power level the other man possessed.

Inclining his head to Bingley, Mencheres turned to Lizzy and said "And you, my dear, must be Darcy's wife, Elizabeth. It took us so long to find you, with you moving and changing your name every five to ten years. Darcy was ecstatic when we finally found you."

Giving the man her hand, Lizzy almost pulled it back in surprise. _It's even more powerful than I expected. He must be able to cloak his power level, but when you touch him, it breaks the spell momentarily. That would explain why Charles was so taken back._

"Please, if you'll come with me, all of you, we have carriages waiting," Mencheres said, motioning for them to follow as he walked away. Georgiana followed without hesitation, and after a slight pause, the others followed as well.


End file.
